Tiger and Dragon
by Jeroro645
Summary: A Torahiko x Tatsuki Morenatsu fanfic, based on the events of Juuichi's route, after August 19th.
1. Chapter 1: Rejected love

"I'm sorry Tora. I don't feel the same." Torahiko's shoulder slumped and he stared at the ground for a second before looking up with tears in his eyes. "There's someone else, isn't there?" Silently, Hiroyuki nodded. Torahiko stood completely still for a moment, then stomped off and slammed the door. For a moment, he stood at the door to Hiroyuki's house, wondering if he should go back in, if there was more he could've said or done. Then, he realized there was nothing he could've done differently. Hiroyuki didn't love him, and that wouldn't change. As this realization sank in, he started running without a clear destination in mind, tears streaming down his face all the while.

Torahiko was vaguely aware of his surroundings, and he thought he heard someone call out to him, but he didn't stop. He ran and ran, until it felt like his legs were about to give out. Without any thought to where he was, he collapsed on the ground. He lay there, eyes closed, not caring about the world around him. After what felt like hours, he opened his eyes and looked around him. In his haste to get away from Hiroyuki, he had run to the river. "The place where he and Hiroyuki had always played together" he thought bitterly. Memories of childhood splashed across his mind. Memories of playing in the river, of water fights to cool off, of the time they got scolded for going in to deep. Tears began to stream down his face once more. He collapsed on the ground once more, wishing for everything to just disappear.

Suddenly, a booming voice startled Torahiko out of his thoughts. "Torahiko, what are ya doing laying on the ground, ya idiot?" Composing himself as best he could, he turned and saw Tatsuki standing behind him, a bit red faced. Barely able to form words, he managed to stutter out, "What are you doing here Tatsuki? Don't you have work?" An expression of terror crossed Tatsuki's face, but it was quickly replaced by a happy smile. "Dad's on the warpath again. Tetsuya san thought it best that I stay out of his way for the time being. Thought I'd come here to cool off a bit" Unable to hold back his emotions, Torahiko turned away so that Tatsuki wouldn't see his tears. "I see." He said in a flat emotionless voice. "Could you go somewhere and just leave me alone?" For the first time, a worried expression crossed Tatsuki's face. "Hey, Tora? Are you ok? You seem different than normal." Something about Tatsuki's words caused anger to erupt within Torahiko. He turned around, no longer caring about concealing his tears, and shouted "I'm fine! What the hell do you know anyway?!" Before Tatsuki could say anything more, he ran off, his feet unconsciously taking him home. When he arrived, he was somewhat calmer, but the tears were still streaming down his face. Ignoring his surroundings and his father's greeting, he trudged up to his room, slammed the door, collapsed onto his bed, and full into a restless sleep, filled with dreams of Hiroyuki.


	2. Chapter 2: The dragon's invitation

Torahiko woke up, blearily rubbing his eyes after his terrible night. He stumbled out of his room and down to the first floor of the Ooshima inn, almost tripping on the steps. He hadn't even thought to check the clock, and when he arrived downstairs, he saw that it was almost noon. There was breakfast sitting on the table along with a note that read "Torahiko, I stopped by earlier today, but you were asleep. I know something's up. You can come talk to me whenever if something's bothering you. -Kyouji" Torahiko turned back to the food, noticing that it was nothing like what his dad always made. He supposed Kyouji must have made it for him when he came by. He was grateful, but it did nothing to improve his mood. He ate slowly, trying to hold back his emotions and not think about yesterday. When he finished eating, he sat up and stumbled away, feeling too drained to bother cleaning up. There wasn't anyone else around, which was strange. Usually there were at least a few customers this time of year. Torahiko decided to go outside, to try and distract himself from his emotions. When he did, he saw that there was a closed sign on the front door. "That's strange" he thought "why would it be closed?" As he kept walking, that thought quickly exited his mind as he saw Hiroyuki and Juuichi talking and laughing. Anger boiled up inside him, and he was about to say something, but he stopped himself and just trudged past them, pointedly ignoring Hiroyuki. He heard Juuichi's voice call out to him, but he didn't care. He kept walking forward and didn't look back.

Everywhere Torahiko walked brought back memories. Memories that had once been happy, but now only caused him pain. He trudged past the park, remembering all the times he had been there with Hiroyuki, playing, laughing, fighting, and hiding from the rain. He saw Kouya and Shun when he walked by the candy shop, reminding of how they had all gathered there when they were younger, before Hiroyuki moved away. As he walked through Minasato, painful memories continued to well up inside him. Every store, every building, every street name had had years of history to him, history that he just wanted to forget now. He lost track of where he was, lost in thought and painful recollection. He tripped and found himself at a part of the river he didn't know.

Had he really walked that far? Before he knew it, a gentle hand pulled him to his feet. He looked, and he saw Kyouji standing there, composed as always. "I've been looking for you all day" he said in an even voice "I want to talk to you." Torahiko looked down at his feet, unsure of what to say. Kyouji took that as an opportunity to continue speaking "Tatsuki said he ran into you yesterday and you were acting strange. He said you were acting miserable, and when he tried to talk to you, you got mad and ran off. Did something happen?" Torahiko, still staring at his feet, mumbled "No, nothing happened. I'm fine." Kyouji paused a moment before replying. "I see. So, if I ask Hiroyuki, he'll say the same thing?" Torahiko looked up, shock written all over his face. "I thought so," Kyouji continued "What happened?" He answered slowly, his voice shaking "I told Hiroyuki I had a crush on someone yesterday. He goaded me into telling who it was, and well, it was him. As you can probably guess, he doesn't feel the same way." Kyouji hesitated, unsure of what to say for once "This may seem cold, but you'll get over it one day. Maybe you should go home and rest. I have a feeling it'll make yiu feel better." Torahiko looked up, angry and confused. "Why would going home make me feel better? There's nothing there!" He shouted. "Just, take my word for it." Kyouji replied evenly. "I'm sure you'll feel better if you do." Torahiko, a little calmer said "Fine, fine. I'll go. This doesn't mean I believe you though." Wanting to escape the conversation, he walked off quickly.

Time seemed to drag on, but before he knew it, he found himself at home. He pulled the door open, and was startled to see Tatsuki standing in the entry way. "What are you doing here?!" He demanded, in sudden anger. With a smile on his face, Tatsuki replied "I wanted to invite you to the Bon festival. I thought it'd be fun, and get you out of whatever slump you're in." Torahiko's anger grew and he shouted "No! No! I just want to be left alone. Please just go away." "Aw, come on, it'll be fun" Tatsuki said enthusiastically "We can eat good food, play carnival games, see the fireworks and just hang out." Tatsuki's enthusiasm was contagious and Torahiko found himself smiling for the first time today. "You know what, I think that's exactly what I need. I'll go with you tomorrow." Tatsuki's smile grew even wider "You will? Great! I promise this will make you feel better! I've gotta run now though. Gotta make sure I can get time off tomorrow." With that, Tatsuki dashed out the door. Feeling happier already, Torahiko bounded up to his room and excitedly decided what he would wear tomorrow, before crashin onto his bed and falling asleep quickly, his head filled with pleasant dreams.


End file.
